Having just days earlier opened his high-wire show at Silver Dollar City, a show that includes his wife, mother and other family members, Wallenda left for the Niagara Falls event with an attitude that whether a wire is 30 feet above the stage, or strung across the Falls, he must treat it with intense care. “I could get hurt just as easily on a wire here as walking over Niagara Falls – I never want to get complacent,” he said.
During today’s event Wallenda stopped to address the crowd, speaking of following one’s dreams. “It’s awesome that I could pursue my own dream and inspire people around the world in the process – I hope to make a difference by motivating others to follow their own dreams.”
Touted as one of the most viewed TV stunts ever with some 13 million people watching ABC Network, tens of thousands at the live June 15th event, and a massive immeasurable number via social media, Wallenda, 33, became the first person ever to walk a wire across the brink of the falls, having changed laws in two countries to do so.
Wallenda performs in Branson through August 4th, marking his second summer in the southwest Missouritown known for live entertainment, and one that is already familiar with Wallenda’s first-ever stunts. Last summer he performed acrobatics, including hanging by his teeth, 200 feet above the ground on a trapeze suspended from a helicopter over the park’s packed 4,000-seat amphitheater.